Ferid Belhaj World Bank Group Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region: “The Tunis Declaration is a strong, landmark declaration
“Congratulations to Tunisia for organising this conference so impeccably. There were no problems and, in any case, as far as the World Bank delegation is concerned, we were satisfied with the way the conference was organised. Tunisia benefited from the Ticad, as a host country, in terms of image but also in terms of its capacity to bring together donors and the entire African continent around an important agenda, which is the sustainable development agenda.
In terms of substance, the Tunis declaration is clearly a strong declaration. It is a declaration that has embraced all the dimensions of development. It is a landmark declaration. Thirdly, as far as the World Bank is concerned, and on the interaction with the African continent, we have taken note and recorded with great satisfaction the 30 million dollars promised by the Japanese government to Africa. We will work with the Japanese government, as we have done for years, on co-financing and parallel financing of development projects throughout the continent. As far as I am concerned, as I deal with North Africa and the Middle East, this interaction with the Japanese government has always been extremely positive and will continue to be so in the coming years.
Neila Nouira Gongi Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines: “Ticad is a starting point for partnership projects with Japan
“Ticad 8 is an important step for the development of a new vision of the triangular Tunisian-Japanese-African partnership relationship. […]. The objective of Ticad is to make available to Japan the comparative advantages of African countries, including Tunisia, and to highlight the sectors that can be the subject of a win-win partnership between Japanese and African companies.
Ticad is a starting point for partnership projects with Japan. The Tunisian government has presented several triangular partnership projects with a focus on the technological and development aspects. These projects are in line with Tunisia’s priorities, particularly in relation to the green economy, the environment and skills development.
Moreover, Japan has approved the creation of African centres of excellence based in Tunisia in the fields of renewable energies, technologies, industry 4.0, health, and organic agriculture. Of course, these centres should cover the whole of Africa, following the example of the African Kaizen centre based in Tunis and under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines.
Ticad is a process. There will be a programme of periodic monitoring of the implementation of the proposed triangular partnership projects. [Japan has launched investment funds that aim to support collaboration between large Japanese companies and African SMEs and start-ups, particularly Tunisian ones. Tunisian companies will be able to benefit from these funds, by weaving tripartite partnerships, with a view to creating projects in the sectors of renewable energies, technologies, nanotechnologies, E-health and E-agriculture that target the African market, given that Tunisia has several free trade agreements with Europe and Africa”.
TunisianMonitorOnline
